-----------------------------
If there are spelling mistakes, please let me know.
Leave a comment; support is always appreciated.
I remind you to leave your ideas or what you would like to see.
-------------------------------
Anno Domini 828,June-26
The city of Rosos opened its gates to us, though not entirely of its own will. It was the Christian garrison that opened the gates and allowed us to enter. By then it had become a tactic closely associated with us, but for the moment it remained a complete secret, since those who discovered the trick usually ended up in chains and on their way to Crete to be sold for gold. As long as that continued to happen, the method kept working.
The real problem would come when they realized why they were losing cities so quickly. They would probably become far harsher with the Christians or outright deny them the right to bear arms and access to the garrisons.
Upon entering the city of Rosos, I found several guards with their throats completely cut and a garrison that had hastily marked crosses on their chests and backs using white chalk stone, to distinguish themselves from the Sarakenoi.
The chaos inside the city was brief. Nearly thirty thousand men entered a city of barely eight thousand inhabitants, and most of the population was Christian. Very few could be enslaved and sold, so the loot was scarce, especially considering it had to be divided among thousands of men eager for profit.
We left the Christian garrison in power and distributed weapons to other men to reinforce the defense. Although the city had surrendered, that did not eliminate the possibility of an Abbasid response from the north, so Rosos had to remain defended. It was our main maritime link to the Empire's supply lines.
In less than an hour we had emptied the city's granaries and incorporated them into our supplies, then began our advance eastward, following the river that would lead us to Antioch.
After dispatching scouts, we set out along the coast toward the Orontes River. Once there, we began moving upstream, observing several minor settlements along the way. For the moment they were ignored, priority given to advancing as quickly as possible toward Antioch. That city was the administrative center of the homonymous governorship, which controlled the entire region of Cilicia, and its fall would mean that the defenses of the area would collapse shortly afterward. There would be no immediate help from other governors, which made Antioch a critical objective.
Without stopping, and after a hurried march, we finally arrived before the walls of Antioch. It was an enormous city. Although it did not compare to Constantinople and its multiple defensive lines, the walls of Antioch were very high, probably between nine and ten meters, which made them extremely difficult to scale. They were also thick walls, reinforced with numerous towers from which the battlements could be filled with defenders.
Besieging it would have been a monumental headache, but clearly we had not come for that.
Our presence finally caused panic outside the walls. The entire population lost control and began running with their belongings toward the safety of the city. Without stopping, they moved in mass toward the gates, creating absolute chaos at the entrances. Huge crowds could be seen trying to enter before the gates were closed.
As had been arranged with the merchants outside the walls, many began to enter through the gates while the guards allowed as many people through as possible, prioritizing especially the merchant carts carrying valuable supplies for a potential siege.
But those carts carried poisoned gifts. Among the cargo were swords and armor meant for those who chose to join the rebellion.
The cavalry were the first to deploy, surrounding the city and securing the approaches. Antioch stretched between two nearby hills, and the slopes had to be climbed to properly cover the gates that opened toward those elevated areas.
The city was far larger than I had anticipated. There were vast areas filled with rubble and abandoned buildings, and even with our numbers exceeding thirty thousand men, we could barely cover all the entrances adequately. Even so, Antioch retained much of its original size, the same it had possessed when it was considered the jewel of the East of the Byzantine Empire.
High and thick walls, a considerable garrison, and fortified sectors protecting the internal bridges over the river. Without collaborators inside the city, it would have taken an army like that of Theophilos to subdue it through siege.
Without losing focus, we began setting up camps around the city, simulating the normal routines of a siege. We dug trenches, raised palisades, and established messenger points to keep all camps informed, while also coordinating actions with the men of the strategos of Cyprus.
For hours, even during the brightest moments of the day, we continued the work while watching the defenders deploy along the walls. As the camps sent in their reports, the numbers became clear.
There were thousands upon thousands of defenders.
The estimates agreed that Antioch could field around eight thousand men on the walls, a figure that deeply surprised me. Considering that the imperial campaign was unfolding in Cilicia, the governor had concentrated forces in the city, either to launch an offensive against the army of Theophilos or to prepare for any other move that might occur in the region.
Faced with those numbers, we remained patient throughout the day, continuing the siege works and waiting to see what would happen with the collaborators, given the high presence of Sarakenoi inside the city.
When night fell, I continued to observe, alert to any sign, but none came. I was already preparing to sleep when a messenger appeared, sent by one of the forces of the strategos of Cyprus. They had captured someone who had descended from the city walls and was asking to speak with me.
Finally, after a long wait, I found myself face to face with a man who was clearly exhausted and smelled worse than Constantinople.
"Are you the strategos of Crete?" he asked when he saw me, struggling to suppress a yawn.
"I am," I replied, fixing my gaze on him.
"Right… the problem is that the Sarakenoi are very suspicious. It seems they have some knowledge of what happened in the other cities, or at least they suspect something because of how quickly they lost control of the region. They have removed most of the Christian garrisons from the gates, so opening them would require fighting, and that would mean hundreds of dead," the messenger said.
"Damn it… I knew it could not be that easy. So those eight thousand we counted were not just filler, were they?" I asked as I considered what to do.
"No. There are thousands more inside. Apparently the governor expects a rapid assault with ladders, and meanwhile he has continued recruiting men within the walls. Another ten thousand warriors have been gathered inside the city," the envoy replied.
"So eighteen thousand?" I said, covering my face as I grasped the scale of the problem.
"Yes. All of them are Sarakenoi, although some come from other regions. They do not get along very well with one another. I do not know if that can be exploited, but that is what is waiting inside the walls. The original Christian garrison of the city numbers about four thousand men, but they are now surrounded by Sarakenoi. Even so, another four thousand would join us if we manage to open the gates, so we could count on roughly eight thousand men inside cooperating with us."
"And if you have no one you trust on the walls, how the hell did you get out of the city?" I asked while thinking about which gate would be best to open.
"Through the Roman sewers of the city, my strategos. Since the last punishment of God that struck Antioch, the system has been unused and no one watches it. They believe the iron bars are still intact, but we have been cutting them away. Since the guards who inspect the sewers are usually us, we control the place," the envoy replied.
I stared at him."Then why do we not enter through the sewers?" I said without taking my eyes off him.
The man hesitated for a second and then looked down."Well… I do not think it is very… dignified," he said, pointing at his stained trousers.
"Would it not be very glorious to take the city through where the filth flows?" I added with a grimace."There must be about thirty centimeters of water full of filth,but it is still better than leaving Your people to fight alone. If we enter that way, even with a limited force, we can support Your men and open the gates."
"The sewer exits near the river and is far from the guarded points. At night it is possible to move through the old city without resistance. Many of the iron bars that should block the passage are, let us say, disabled," he said, stopping halfway through the sentence.
"It does not matter," I replied. "What matters is getting inside. We will deal with the smuggling problem after we win."
"So then, my strategos, when do we move?" he asked.
"Right now. We are not far from an Abbasid response. If they learn that Antioch is under siege, they will come down in force. Tonight is our opportunity," I replied as I began to put on my armor.
"I need time to inform the others and coordinate," the envoy said, hurrying out of the tent.
"Have someone follow him and locate the entrance," I ordered as I adjusted my mail and face guard.
"Well, looks like we will get dirty," Sigurd muttered as he put on his armor.
"Mostly our feet," I replied as I secured my boots with bandages, sealing them as tightly as possible. "I do not want infections afterward."
I formed a group of two thousand men to enter through the sewers and open one of the nearest gates. If everything went well, the chaos would allow several more to be opened.
We prepared and advanced to the sewer exit, well hidden among bushes, straw, and rubble. As soon as we approached, the stench hit us full force, but there was no alternative.
We entered the tunnel. With torches held high, we advanced carefully, trying to walk along the raised sections and avoiding contact with the brown liquid that moved slowly around us.
At last we reached the thick iron bars the envoy had mentioned. They were closed.
"Stay alert. This could be a trap," I warned, turning toward my men.
Several minutes passed in silence until we heard footsteps and splashing. From the darkness emerged several guards wearing Christian insignia on their armor.
"Sorry for the delay," one of them said. "We had to notify everyone and do it without alerting anyone."
With no apparent effort, he removed one of the bars.
"They looked sturdier than they really are," I commented as I watched them remove four without difficulty.
"We used mortar to fix them back in place. When an inspector comes, he notices nothing," the man replied, extending his hand to help me cross.
One by one, the two thousand men passed the barrier. We continued through the maze of sewers, removing obstacles and enduring the rot.
"This path leads to the abandoned baths near the southern gate. From here there is access to some baths still used in the north. And through that tunnel over there we can reach directly the inner therma of the fortress of Antioch," one of our guides said, pointing to the branching tunnels.
"Wait… wait… can we reach the inner fortress of the city from here?" I asked, surprised by the level of insecurity they had left beneath their own feet.
"It was not always like this," the guide replied. "The inner fortress was relocated. They wanted to secure it in the middle of the river, and where there used to be a public therma in ancient times, there is now a private bath for the fortress. They never fully modified it, so yes, we can reach the very heart of the fortress."
"Damn… seems we have more luck than I thought," I murmured, kicking the foul water that clung to the soles of my boots. "But setting that aside…"
"So what do we do?" the guide asked.
"First we secure the southern gate. All my men are ready there to enter. Then we come back and strike the inner fortress, because the moment they realize we are inside, they will lock themselves in," I replied, starting down the tunnel that led toward the southern gate.
We moved quickly, covering our noses, removing more iron bars from the sewer until we reached what looked like an ancient drain. It was clear it had not been maintained for years.
The guide carefully removed several stones and opened the way for us.
When we emerged, we found ourselves surrounded by men wearing armor and Christian insignia. They were waiting for us in complete silence.
"Good. Everyone ready. That gate has to fall fast," I ordered, pointing toward the access we had to open.
Without making a sound, we began to move. That was when a few shouts broke the silence. We had been discovered.
We ran toward the gate as the alarm began to spread throughout the city.
-----------------------------
If there are spelling mistakes, please let me know.
Leave a comment; support is always appreciated.
I remind you to leave your ideas or what you would like to see.
-------------------------------